Will This Be Ronnie Brown's Last Year With The Miami Dolphins?

Let me start by saying that Ronnie Brown has been able to do a lot of great things for the Miami Dolphins in his six years with the franchise. He is Mr. Wildcat, and he won a lot of games for the Dolphins in his time here. He was able to carry a lot of the burden when Chad Henne first came in as a starter, and he is a big reason the Dolphins made the playoffs two years ago.

Sadly, though, I think this will be his last season with the Miami Dolphins. He is averaging a career low 3.9 yards per carry, and he has lacked the playmaking ability that he had in years past. He is technically a veteran player, and running backs have a short shelf life in the NFL nowadays. Six years as a running back in the NFL is like 12 years as a receiver. Running backs really take a beating, and they begin to wear down after years of playing.

I am afraid that Ronnie Brown can no longer be the premier running back for the Dolphins. He just doesn't have good enough numbers to be one. He wasn't able to reach 100 rushing yards off of 24 carries against the Raiders, He has only had four games all season where he averaged over 4 yards per carry, and he only has three touchdowns after 11 games.

His running style no longer seems to work with the Miami Dolphins offense. His main strength was running the wildcat, and now he doesn't really run it very effectively. That may be partly Dan Henning's fault because he is too predictable when he calls it, but Ronnie still can't make much of anything happen.

He just doesn't seem like an explosive player anymore, and we need an explosive back to work with Chad Henne. Henne can be really good, but he needs to have a running back carrying part of the load because he can't handle it himself.

I know that Dan Henning has been largely to blame for the running game, and consequently Ronnie Brown's, performance this year, but I just get the feeling that Ronnie's time in Miami will be limited. His contract expires at the end of this year, and I am not sure that the Dolphins will be willing to give him a new one that he would accept.

He had said earlier this year that he hadn't had any talks with Miami Dolphins officials about a new contract yet, so that tells me there is a good chance Miami won't keep him. The Dolphins organization doesn't show loyalty to players who have been in Miami (just look at Jason Taylor), so, I have a feeling that Ronnie will be another player added to the list of career-long Dolphins that end up going to another team.

We will see what happens, but don't be surprised if he ends up going to another team this offseason. Also, I wouldn't be surprised if he does go to another team and ends up bouncing back and playing like LaDainian Tomlinson has played this year. He may not do as well as LT has done, but I have a feeling that if he is put in the correct offense he can still make things happen.

Thanks for reading, and please be sure to leave a comment on what you think. I would be surprised if every Miami Dolphins fan that reads this doesn't have a strong opinion one way or the other about Brown.